Traffic

February 20, 2009

Dr Aric Sigman's technology blindness

Dr Aric Sigman
was all over the TV, press and web yesterday talking about how, he has discovered,
social media can give you cancer. His theory is, this loneliness brought about
by more time spent in front of electronic devices, doing social networking,
does something to our genes. When we're social, we have reduced morbitiy in our
genes. When we are the opposite (lonely) then we get ready to kick the bucket.
Anchoring his theory is the notion that time spent using social media is lonely
time. Here are his words, so that you can see where it's coming from.

"Couples now spend less time in one another's company and more time at work, commuting,
or in the same house but in separate rooms using different electronic
devices…"
[I violently disagree with this sweeping statement, but let's give Sigman some
space]

"...a trend
that looks likely to continue."

[if this was the trend I'd agree, but he's still swinging his carcinogenic
scythe]

I'm not sure if
time spent using technology to socialise is
as lonely as Sigman suggests. Sure, a poke on Facebook isn't the same as a hug
[a point taken from Sigman's press release]. But there's a balance
between the impact social media has on bringing people together - people that
would otherwise have had less contact with one another,
and the time it takes up in your life taking you away from hugging people.

If I am to stay
true to my digital roots though, I'd actually go back and challenge Sigman's
belief that spending more time in front of devices in different rooms is a
growing trend. Connections to the social web are increasingly mobile. Laptops
are on in the sitting room, Twitter and Facebook are on the mobile, and
smartphones often negate the pull to the computer in the other room. Look at
this photo from a recent feature the New York times as just one example.

I see a future where connections to the social
web are ubiquitous, they don't pull us away from one another, they enable us to
maintain our social, face to face lives, whilst devices that fit easily around
us, not anchor us to solitary places, empower us to connect with those we could
not do without the web easily.

Comments

I agree that the pic above illustrates the point.
I understand the author's point of view, but I don't think connecting and interacting with people over the internet is as fulfilling as talking with someone in person. I'm a very social person and I do use facebook regularly, but for me it just isn't enough to interact with others through the internet.